Lifting for legacy: The mini cranes playing a part in historic renovations

As the building where former British prime minister Winston Churchill masterminded the Battle of the Bulge and Lord Kitchener organised troops for World War I, the Old War Office building in London’s Whitehall is packed with fixtures and furnishings of a unique historic value.

GGR’s TMC 525 articulated crawler crane lifts a work platform through the window of London’s historic Old War Office. Photo: GGR

James Bond author Ian Flemming came up with the idea for 007, and John Profumo is said to have shown Christine Keeler around the building.

The listed building opened as a luxury Raffles hotel last year following a meticulous seven-year restoration project by the Hinduja family and has been transformed into 120 luxury rooms, nine restaurants fetching as much as GB£900 (US$1,150) a night, three bars and 85 Raffles-branded residences.

The main staircase, made from Italian marble and Derbyshire alabaster, was once reserved for none but the most senior officials – something TE Lawrence (of Arabia) famously described as “only for the use of Field Marshals and charwomen.” While Churchill frequently stood on the landing to address senior staff on the progress of the war effort.

“Only for the use of Field Marshals and charwomen.”

So, it’s unsurprising that when renovations teams approached UK-based materials handling equipment specialist GGR Group to deliver a vertical mast lift to the first floor of the Edwardian baroque building, they were asked to find a different way to get it up to the first floor.

The lifting team found that the most effective way to deliver the working platform to the first floor was to take it through one of the first-storey windows of the grade II* listed building.

This was by no means an easy feat. The working platform being lifted was 106cm (3.5 foot) wide and 290 cm (9.5 feet) long when folded up. Meanwhile, the window in question was just 138.4 cm (4.5 feet) wide and 323.2 cm (10.6 feet) high. And it was 14 meters (45 feet) off the ground.

Decorated with an ornamental balustrade blocking direct access, the physics of the manoeuvre also meant that it would have to be a so-called ‘blind lift’ where the crane operator would be unable to see the load once it entered the building.

The Old War Office Builing, now home to Raffles London. Photo: Adobe Stock

And to make matters even more difficult, the window was located looking onto the cobbled courtyard of the 1906-built structure, meaning that any lifting equipment used would have to be small enough to fit through a 232.7 cm (7.6 foot) by 444.3 cm (14.5 foot) arched gateway from the street.

After a thorough survey of the site, GGR selected its TMC 525 articulated crawler crane to do to the job.

The mini articulated mini crane has a capacity of 14 tonnes and a maximum lift height of up to 32 meters (105 feet). More importantly for this job, it comes equipped with an articulated boom allowing the operator to easily lift loads under overhangs and over obstacles.

The GGR team then put together a detailed lift plan and risk assessment considering the extra precautions needed to lift into such a restrained and historic building.

Equipped with foldaway outriggers allowing it to ‘shrink’ to a size of just 185cm wide, the TMC 525 was narrow enough to drive through the formal stone gateway without difficulty.

After the crane was set up in the courtyard, the lifting team set up the load, securing it with a tag line to prevent the load from swinging, rotating or spinning during the lift which could have damaged the historic building’s ceiling or walls.

The load was lifted up to the window and carefully manoeuvred through with use of the TMC 525’s radio remote control which enabled the operator to control it from the best possible location rather than just from the cab – a particularly use feature in a blind lift.

A ‘blind lift’

Once through the window, the movements of the crane had to be even more precise given the limited width of the corridor inside the building where the load had to be delivered - just 278.4 cm (9.1 feet). Here, team members were on hand to help guide the load onto the floor, ensuring no damage to the hallowed halls.

And it’s not just high-profile heritage renovations which require the manoeuvrability and precision you get from small cranes such as mini crawlers.

With increasing pressure on construction teams to renovate and re-use buildings rather than demolishing them in order to reduce carbon emissions and waste, construction teams are increasingly finding a need for small, nippy cranes to get into tight corners.

Manufacturers are reporting strong demand for machines including pick and carry cranes, industrial yard cranes and mini crawler cranes from a variety of industries due to the machines’ abilities to access restricted spaces and to be easily transported.

Liebherr’s LTR1040 cranes are just 3 meters wide. Photo: Liebherr

At the bigger end of the scale, Liebherr updated its LTR1040, a lightweight version of its popular 60 tonne capacity LTR1060 back in 2021. Liebherr describes the machine as “small, light and full of power.”

The machine is 3 meters wide which means it can fit on a standard low loader and can be moved safely on site with a load on its hook, just like a specifically designed ‘pick and carry’ crane.

Strong demand for small cranes

The manufacturer says that demand is especially strong in the industrial sector but is also seeing significant growth in the wind industry where smaller cranes are often needed to help assemble large crawler cranes or to transport turbine components. Very often, telescopic crawler cranes are also used to assemble precast concrete parts.

An increase in the number of battery powered pick and carry cranes on the market also means that machines can increasingly be used for indoor work and have been put to work installing windows from rooftops, setting up artwork in museums and performing underground work.

Italian manufacturer Ormig, meanwhile, is firmly targeting the indoor mobile crane market with its electric range. Last year the company launched a 30-tonne capacity battery powered machine, the 30iEk which measures less than 2 meters wide and 4 meters long.

The model includes a hydraulically operated oscillating head with which the mobile crane can lift and position loads with greater precision, minimising the risk of damage to the load or surrounding elements.

Ormig’s 30iEk indoor electric crane measures less than 2 meters wide and 4 meters long. Photo: Ormig

Ormig says that all of the machines in its range have two front electric motors which rotate in opposite directions, enabling the cranes to rotate around the front axle like a compass and reducing the turning radius to a minimum.

Last year at the GIS trade show in Piacenza, Italy, another pick and carry crane specialist, Manitex Valla launched four new fully electric pick and carry cranes, the V160R, the V160R radio controlled, the V160RC and the V180RC.

The company has also been rolling out a double zero-leakage block valve system designed to ensure that loads suspended from its cranes for hours at a time remain stable.

Manitex Valla said that it is currently prototyping new heavy range models of pick and carry cranes with load capacities between 35 and 50 tonnes which it plans to officially launch in 2025.

Meanwhile, Australian Terex subsidiary, Franna, which lays claim to inventing the pick and carry crane in the 1980s has been expanding its reach by launching its entry-level FR17C model into Africa, UAE and Latin America markets since 2023.

A compact pick and carry crane with a short turning radius of 6.77 meters, the crane has a lifting capacity of 17 tonnes and is powered by a Cummins engine. Franna says that it has designed the machine without a clutch pedal in order to reduce driver fatigue.

“With its advanced safety features and the reliability of the Cummins engine, this crane will improve lifting operations across various industries, including construction, mining and logistics as well as city, yard and industrial applications where space is limited,” says Danny Black, general manager. “Its versitility is also said to lend itself well to road and metro projects and for local hire.”